Cygnet Theatre Announces new 'Playwrights in Process: New Play Festival'

The Cygnet Theatre announced on Friday that they are proud to present a new festival of readings of new plays by San Diego Playwrights.  Called the Playwrights in Process: New Play Festival this four day festival will also include a series of workshops and readings that will introduce audiences to the art of playwriting.  It will also offer curious audiences with opportunities for informal forums to meet the playwrights.

Artistic Director of the New Play Festival is local performer, director, dramaturg and teacher Kim Strassburger. She also teaches acting at the Coronado School of the Arts and is thrilled with the opportunity to share these works-in-progress with San Diego audiences. "Cygnet Theatre's Playwrights in Process is a new opportunity for San Diego audiences to 'get in at the ground level' for new plays written by San Diego playwrights. Cygnet Theatre is firmly dedicated to the fostering of new plays and emerging playwrights, and Playwrights in Process taps into the vast pool of creative writing talent and theatre artists in the region," said Strassburger.

Starting with a Kickoff reception on the Cygnet Theatre patio on Thursday, November 1^st, the weekend long festival will present four readings of new plays by Allan Havis, Lance Arthur Smith, Julia Fulton, and Tim West.  

Festival Event Schedule

Thursday, November 1, 2012

6:30pm: Kickoff Reception, Cygnet Theatre patio

7:30pm: Reading of ARTUR & JOE by Allan Havis

Friday, November 2, 2012

6:00-7:00pm: Watching with a Critical Eye, a pre-performance workshop hosted by Playwrights Project

7:30pm: Patio Talk with Tim West

8:00pm: Reading of  COOPERSTOWN by Tim West

Saturday, November 3, 2012

6:00-7:00pm: Playwriting Nuts & Bolts hosted by Tim West

7:30pm: Patio Talk with Julia Fulton

8:00pm: Reading of  LAKE POWELL by Julia Fulton

Sunday, November 4, 2012

4:00-6:00pm: From Pencil and Paper to Production: Constructing a Play hosted by Tim West

6:30pm: Patio Talk with Lance Arthur Smith

7:00pm: Reading of THE TWO WISEMEN OF LAS CRUCES by Lance Arthur Smith

WORKSHOPS

Watching with a Critical Eye, a pre-performance workshop hosted by Playwrights Project?Friday, Nov 2 at 6:00-7:00pm

Join a lively conversation about playwriting with Playwrights Project's Producer Derek Charles Livingston with the aim of becoming a more discerning theatre-goer. Audience members will read a play excerpt, discuss their first impressions of the characters and situations revealed in the script, and learn about the elements of a play that make it come alive. 

Playwriting Nuts & Bolts hosted by Tim West?Saturday, Nov 3 at 6:00-7:00pm

A practicing playwright and Cygnet Resident Artist gives you an accessible, personalized view of playwriting in terms of traditional and modern theatre craft. 

From Pencil and Paper to Production: Constructing a Play hosted by Tim West?Sunday, Nov 4 at 4:00-6:00pm

Using his current Cygnet Playwrights in Process piece as example, the actor and playwright walks you through the steps of playwriting, from conception to production. 

READINGS

ARTHUR & JOE by Allan Havis

ARTHUR & JOE imagines the two celebrity ex-husbands of Marilyn Monroe meeting discreetly at a small Italian restaurant a few weeks after her death. Titular figures in baseball and theatre, DiMaggio and Miller believe that more than one tragedy has occurred with Marilyn's passing while at the same time harbor suspicions about one another. Unexpected details emerge to mitigate the isolated pain each man feels and they rendezvous a second time 8 years later. One man receives redemption by the play's finale.

COOPERTOWN by Tim West

An estranged father and son journey together to the National Museum and Hall of Fame, where the old man's former teammate is being inducted. The son, an unfulfilled academic and struggling writer, must mend his relationship with his aging father to save his troubled relationship with his own son. COOPERTOWN is a story about yearning for recognition, dealing with disappointment, defining success and reconciling with the past - all in the context of our National Pastime.

LAKE POWELL by Julia Fulton

A mother and her four daughters meet on a houseboat in the middle of Lake Powell, Utah, ostensibly for a reunion and to decide who will get mom to live with them. She has reached the venerable age where she cannot live alone, and each daughter has her own reasons for wanting the matriarch to choose to be with her. But there are secrets, resentments and betrayal aboard, and one of the daughters will not be going home at all. 

THE TWO WISEMEN OF LAS CRUCES by Lance Arthur Smith

New Mexico, 1880: Although the Civil War had ended fifteen years earlier, New Mexico was still unsure of its place in the United States. A territory since 1850, statehood seemed attainable with the advent of the railroad. Every New Mexican town fought for the right to have the railroad stop there, and one of the biggest struggles took place between two Southern towns- raucous Mesilla and sparsely settled Las Cruces. A confrontation in the desert will illuminate shady financial dealings and the lessons of a lifetime in a matter of days. 

Full festival passes can be purchased for $30 which includes access to all 4 play readings, all of the workshops, all of the patio talks prior to the readings and the kickoff reception on opening night of the festival.

Day pass tickets are $10 and include access to one play reading, the workshop on the same day as the reading and the patio talk prior to the reading.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting Cygnet's website at www.cygnettheatre.com or by calling the box office at 619-337-1525. Tickets can also be purchased in person by visiting Cygnet's box office located at the Old Town Theatre, 4040 Twiggs St. in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park

Photo credit: Cygnet Theatre